Art Versus Racism: T. S Eliot’s the Hollow Men and Black Identity

Abstract

The Anglo-American poet T. S. Eliot refers to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, among other literary and historical sources in his well-known poem entitled The Hollow Men. The link of this poem to his earlier works in the neo-Metaphysical tradition has already been established by various scholars and critics of twentieth century English literature. What eludes the awareness of Eliot's readers is the specific relevance of his verse style to White supremacists' apprehension of issues which concern poetry, culture and society in the West. One central theme of The Hollow Men is duncehood insofar as this human condition reveals itself in supposedly meaningless or barren engagements like rustic dance, singing, verbal (folk) expression and festivity outside a typically European landscape. In previous studies, literary commentators have failed to read Eliot's poem correctly by relating it to the behavior of African-Americans of Harlem Renaissance, or of Blacks in exile generally. This study is an analysis and interpretation of Eliot's writing that suggests his racial bigotry and intolerance, but everything can be seen in terms of the Western conservative outlook on politics, culture, and man's destiny in the modern world.